


I'll Be Home for Christmas

by krazikrys



Category: Backstreet Boys
Genre: Airports, Christmas, Christmas Eve, F/M, Rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21988876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krazikrys/pseuds/krazikrys
Summary: Brian is off recording for his new album and has told his girlfriend that he'll be home for Christmas. But will he?
Relationships: Brian Littrell/Original Female Character
Kudos: 1





	I'll Be Home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read "DNA of a Backstreet Boy", you might wanna. This takes place after that one ends.
> 
> Don't know them. Never met them, except Baylee. But otherwise, this is just all in fun.

Brian stared at the link on his screen. His girlfriend had sent it to him, but the rest of the guys had already tipped him off.

The headline of the blog post said, “Too Cute for Christmas…” It was on one of the better fan sites he knew of. The author of the post had apparently caught on to what he and his girlfriend had been doing on Instagram for the past week.

It had started with her posting a photo of their new seven-foot Christmas tree all decorated. She had captioned it: “Had to decorate this puppy myself this year!” He had commented on the post, “Looks beautiful! How’d you get the angel on top?”

Her simple response had been, “Your cousin.” She then went on to post a photo of her sitting on his cousin, Kevin’s shoulders and her reaching to put the angel on top of the tree. Her caption: “Short Person Problems.” She had thanked Kristin for getting the photo and loaning out her tall husband. Brian had laughed because he could tell the photo was staged.

Two days later she had posted her regular Monday video. She was sitting on the floor of their apartment in front of the Christmas tree. She had told everyone that he was in Nashville, Tennessee, recording and he was hoping to have his album done and released in the new year. She had also gone on to say that he was hoping to be home for Christmas, but she wasn’t planning on it.

Brian had decided it was time to do something in return. That Thursday, he had created and posted an Instagram story. It had snowed there in Nashville and he managed to convince his bodyguard, Mike, to get a picture of him in the snow. He then posted it with his recording of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” as the background.

The article had ended there with Thursday’s Instagram story. It was now Saturday afternoon and he knew his girlfriend, Bec, was up to something. She’d been too quiet. They’d hardly sent any texts since he’d posted the story. In fact, the message he had received had been one of four she’d sent him since his post on Thursday.

Brian’s phone pinged with a new mention on Instagram. He saw it was from Bec’s account, BCWorld. He immediately opened it up and saw it was a video captioned: “@rokspics Only in your dreams…” He let the video play. She was standing in their apartment and obviously had someone operating her camera for her because it wasn’t steady like it was when she was on the tripod. It started with a close-up of her, saying, “Hey, Handsome. So, the last time it snowed in LA was in nineteen sixty-two. I wasn’t born yet and neither were you. So, no snow.” The camera zoomed out to show their doorway. She pointed up. “But I did hang your mistletoe. And I’ll be waiting under it for you when you get here...after Christmas!” She blew him a kiss right before the video ended. The fact that she had actually posted it and not sent it to him in a direct message meant she had been doing it intentionally for her followers as well as him.

The days crept by. Brian spent time in the studio, his hotel. All the while he was watching the weather reports and his flight on Christmas Eve. Almost a week after the video was posted, he was on a video call with Bec. “Hey, you’ll never guess who’s booked next door to me!” he said into his phone.

Bec shook her head. “Hard telling,” she replied.

Brian slid the phone to his right and showed his son. Baylee waved at the image of Bec on the screen. “Hey!” he said.

“Hey there, Lil B. You did this on purpose right?”

Baylee smiled. “Of course! I can’t get time with him otherwise!”

Brian moved the phone so both of them were in view of the camera. “Do you know how intimidating it is to record next to this guy?” Brian asked.

Bec smiled. “I would think it would be the other way around,” she replied.

“They don’t call him ‘Two Take Jake’ for nothing,” Brian said. “He’s already done for today.” Baylee grinned beside his father.

“Hey, Handsome, can I speak to your mini-me for a minute?” Bec asked sweetly.

“Sure. I’ve got to go rustle up some tea before my next session.” Brian handed his phone to Baylee and walked off.

“What’s up?” Baylee asked.

“Have you watched him lay down tracks yet?” Bec asked.

“Yeah, he’s struggling bad.”

Bec sighed. “His voice?”

Baylee shook his head. “No. It doesn’t seem like it.”

“Go see what he’s reading off of. I have a hunch.”

“Okay,” Baylee said getting up and walking into the recording booth. He stopped at the music stand and turned the phone so Bec could see. “Standard music sheet,” he told her turning the phone back around to himself.

“That’s why,” she said. “See if you can find a lyric sheet somewhere.”

“Why?”

“He’s getting too technical,” she said to the young musician. “He knows how it sounds in his head. He doesn’t need anything more.” 

Baylee searched around the booth and found a lyric sheet on a table. He switched the two sheets. “And when he gets mad at me over it?” the young recording artist asked.

“Send him to me,” Bec replied as Baylee walked out of the booth and found his father.

Passing the phone off to his father, Baylee stepped back and Brian turned the phone back towards him. “I’ve got to get back to work,” he said to his girlfriend.

“I know,” she said.

He sipped his tea while holding his phone up. “I’ll see you by Christmas.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “We’ll see.”

Brian rolled his eye and said, “Love you.”

“Love you, too, Handsome.” 

The pair hung up and Brian took his tea and headed into the booth. Setting it down on a table on the far wall, he stepped up the microphone and grabbed his headphones. Glancing down at the music stand in front of him, he saw the lyric sheet. Leaning into the microphone, Brian said, “Hey, Bay, did you switch out my sheet?”

Baylee smiled from the other side of the glass and leaned into the microphone on his side. “Your girlfriend said to.”

Sighing, Brian pulled out his phone and video dialed Bec again. When she answered, he said, “What are you doing telling my boy to switch sheets on me?”

She smiled and shook her head. “You’re too much in your head,” she replied. He stared at her. “I’m gonna tell you the same thing you tell me about once a month: get out of your head.” Brian shook his head, obviously not understanding. “Look, when I try to do my epic one takes or am stuck on scripting, what do you tell me?”

Brian sighed, “Get out of your head.”

“Exactly. You are doing the same thing. Bay says it’s not your voice, you’re just stuck. So get out of your head. You know how you want it to sound. Close your eyes and do that.”

Sighing again, Brian smiled. “You’re right. How is it you know me so well?”

She shrugged. “I just do. But get it laid down because your fees are going to be stupid if you don’t get it done soon!”

Brian grinned and the pair hung up again.

Five days later, Brian was sitting in his hotel room, checking the weather. There seemed to be a storm coming in and they said it was going to make travel difficult. With only five days until he flew home, Brian was starting to get nervous. His girlfriend had too. She hadn’t posted it directly but had sent him a direct message of her sitting by the Christmas Tree and part of “Please Come Home for Christmas” as her background music. When he had called her on it, she had certainly played it off that she wasn’t worried. She told him that his flight would be delayed. That he was crazy to fly on Christmas Eve. She basically gave him every excuse in the book. But underneath it all, Brian knew she was afraid to be spending Christmas alone. She had told him how Christmases had sucked in her family, pretty much since the day she told them she was bisexual. She wasn’t welcomed back.

As Christmas Eve grew closer, Brian tried to finish up his shopping between his sessions. He finally finished everything on Friday night. As he headed back to his hotel room, he fumbled with the box in his pocket. It hadn’t been as impulsive a buy as he thought it would be. Now if the weather would hold out till he got closer to home. Curling up in bed in his hotel room, he sent a text to Bec, knowing she would be awake. “If the weather holds, I’ll be under the tree waiting for you,” he sent.

“Not according to the weather channel,” she sent back.

“Call me,” he sent. And he waited a bit before his phone rang. Putting his phone on speaker, he answered it. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she replied, rather muted.

Brian smiled. “I knew you were faking. How are you doing?”

“Can I live in the bathtub?” she asked him.

“Why?”

“I’m cold and I’ve got everything done until at least Tuesday. Told everyone I wasn’t posting on Monday and I wasn’t working all weekend either.”

“Well, after all I’ve dumped into studio fees, I can’t afford the water bill if you live in the tub,” he said. She half laughed at him. “Seriously though, it’s not cold there, is it?”

“Cold enough,” she replied.

Brian sighed. He knew she put up a good front for everyone, but when it was just the two of them, she hated it when he was away. She usually spent at least one week with him when he was Vegas. This stint in Nashville had been on the books for at least six months. He knew she couldn’t come out with him. She had too much work to do, including the group’s first Christmas video. They had recorded it in July and she had taken her time putting it together. It was slated for release on their group socials on Sunday. “Babe, I’ll be home in two days.”

“Assuming the weather holds.”

“You really do hate the holidays, don’t you?”

She sighed. “Pretty much for the past twenty or so years, yeah.”

Brian opened the box he had in his hand and fumbled with it. Was this gift going to make things better or worse for her? Sighing, he said, “I am going to do everything I can to get home to you. Just pray this weather holds out until Monday.”

“We’ll see,” she said flatly.

“Babe, I love you,” he told her.

“I love you, too,” she replied. They hung up a short time later and Brian continued to fumble with the box. He was really beginning to have his doubts.

Sunday morning he was at the airport early. He was going to try and fly standby and get home earlier. The storm was headed in and his flight didn’t leave until six that night. It was frigid when he arrived at ten that morning. He knew everything was going to take longer, including TSA. He stowed the small box in his carry on but intended to carry it in his pocket the whole way. For some reason, having the box close by made him feel better. When he was finally through security, he checked the departure board. Currently, his flight was on time. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed to go find some lunch.

Brian’s thoughts of flying standby were dashed by the fact that everyone else seemed to be doing it as well. He’d put his name on the list and in each of the three flights before his, he’d get right to the top and they’d close all standbys. Groaning, he settled himself at his gate and checked his flight. It now read as delayed by about half an hour. As long as it didn’t get canceled, he felt he was okay.

The video they had done had gone live earlier that day. As always, he was impressed with Bec’s skill. It had come out great: their message, the footage, it all blended smoothly. Getting settled, and knowing he had about another two hours to wait, he checked his messages. Not finding anything from his girlfriend, he sent, “Video came out great!” And then followed that up with, “Waiting on my flight. We’re delayed.”

“Knew it,” she replied.

He sent back, “Delayed, not canceled.”

Sitting there at the airport, he opted to do a video while he was waiting to post to Instagram. “Hey guys,” he said into his camera. “It’s Christmas Eve and I’m trying to get back home. I’ve been out working and hope to get this out to you guys soon. So I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and we’ll see you in the New Year.” He uploaded it to Instagram and checked his flight again. It was now delayed an hour, so he _still_ had two hours to wait.

The time dragged by. He spent his time texting his son and tracking the weather. Bay had sent him the tracks he had laid down and he listened to them, impressed and proud at what his son was doing. He had nearly dozed off when he finally heard movement at his gate. The attendants were preparing for the deplaning of the plane that had finally arrived. It was nearly seven-thirty in the evening. He knew that by the time he boarded and they got in the air, he’d arrive back in Los Angeles around eleven at night.

Finally getting into his first-class seat, he settled back and snapped a picture for Instagram. He slowly typed the caption before posting it. “Finally in my office chair...ready to go home.”

He slid to his music app and tried to relax for the five-hour flight. The lights were low because most people were trying to sleep. His flight was rather empty as so many had either managed to catch earlier flights or just weren’t going to chance flying on Christmas Eve. Pulling out the box as they hit cruising altitude, he opened it and stared at what was inside. He really wanted to talk to his son right then, but instead, opened up his message string and reread the texts they had sent Friday night.

“So when you gonna do it?” the boy had asked his father.

“I don’t know, Bubs,” he had replied.

“You know you want to.”

“I know. I just don’t know if I’m making a big mistake.” And that was where he got stuck in everything. Was he making a mistake? Was this the right time? Should he wait? Snapping the box closed, he sighed. His body ached and he really wanted to just sleep, which he knew was the result of hanging out at the airport all day. On any other given night, he’d still be wide awake.

As they landed in Los Angeles, he took his time getting off the plane. Once he was clear of the gate, he checked his phone. It was about half-past eleven. Sighing, he opened up the Lyft app and scheduled a pick-up, hoping there was someone awake and available at this hour. He knew the city wouldn’t let him down and another night owl said he’d be waiting for him. Gathering his bags from the carousel, he headed to the front of the terminal.

The driver had only asked him if he was trying to get home for Christmas, which he had said he was. After that, Brian hung in the backseat and thought. Pulling up out in front of his place, it was just about midnight. He paid his fare, thanked his driver and headed inside. Opening the door quietly, he found exactly what he thought he would. On the couch, under a blanket was Bec, fast asleep. He left his bags just inside the door and quietly walked over to her. He sat down the edge of the couch. Kissing her on the forehead, he traced a thumb down her cheek.

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Hey,” he said softly. “Told you I’d be home for Christmas.”

Sitting up, the petite woman grinned and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her away long enough to kiss her deeply. She then glanced at the clock on the wall. “You’re late,” she said. He looked at her quizzically. “It’s after midnight.”

He grinned at her. “I was here before midnight, I promise. I can’t help it if you were asleep.” She climbed up on his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. They sat there together for a while before he gently moved his hand down her back. Taking a breath, he reached in his pocket and fingered the box. “So, before things go crazy, I want you to think about something.”

“What?” she asked.

He pulled the box out of his pocket and gingerly opened it. “This.” 

Her eyes landed on the little box and the gold ring with a single round stone in it. She looked back at him.

“It’s not a proposal. I want you to think about it,” he said. “I know you’ve said you’d never get married. And I certainly don’t want to rush things. But I _am_ thinking about it.”

She smiled at him and leaned her head back on his shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” he asked, closing the box again.

“For coming home.” She picked her head up and looked at him before pressing her lips to his. “And yes, I’ll think about it.”


End file.
